The first trip to the bathroom reveals that we’re in for a longer night than we could have possibly expected. It’s a Thursday night – a school night, I stress – and the bill on the door leading to the toilet declares that there will be five bands on the night. The last Fergus Brown is to start at a quarter to midnight, and will be filmed for the forthcoming feature film, LBF.

Brian Campeau is up first, and he’s brought one quarter of his band, The Common Misconceptions, along for support. She, a certain Elana Stone, accompanies on accordion and vocals. Brian Campeau is a folk singer – or at least what he does is grounded in folk; the reality is that the music is a little spacier than all that. It’s partly the reverb and partly his inventive guitar playing style, in which the rhythm is supplemented by harmonics, trills, hammer-ons and surprisingly inventive tapping. He sings four songs, she sings two, and the crowd is entranced.

Review: Patrick HarrisonThe mosh pit at the Enmore theatre was packed out from wall to wall before the support acts – had even left the stage, and the seats quickly filled up. As soon as Kate Miller-Heidke hit the stage, the excited hubbub exploded into a minute’s solid applause. She lived up to her usual image – with freshly dyed hair and a dress made out of purple frills and silver tinsel. And, as soon as she started playing, everyone in the house knew they were in for something special. The whole crowd fell dead silent to hear her open with “Our Song”, a honest and emotional performance that Kate starts over her partner Kier Nuttal’s guitar before the rest of the band comes in.Continue reading Live Review + Photos | Kate Miller-Heidke @ Enmore Theatre, Sydney 20 Nov 2009→

The Zoo is filled with fresh faced lasses in floral dresses and boys with floppy hair and dance pants. As soon as the six members of Brisbane’s Ball Park Music hit the stage to room is on its feet and inching closer to the stage. It’s like were being sucked forward by the gloriously poppy sounds and irresistibly jangly guitars. And the trombone. How can anyone resist a trombone? This collective of shiny, happy young’uns have spent much of the year gigging around the city and attracting a little pack of supporters. They released an 8 track debut “Rolling on the floor, Laughing ourselves to sleep” early this year and some of the tracks have come to the attention of triple j heavyweights.Continue reading Live Review | Hungry Kids of Hungary @ The Zoo, Brisbane with Deep Sea Arcade and Ball Park Music – 14 November 2009→

Friday: The weather gods have smiled upon us, after a week of much needed rain the clouds have parted and the sun is beaming down on a collection of camper vans, cars and kombis, most filled with reggae fans eagerly waiting to be loaded on to the Stradbroke Ferry. Island Vibe 09 awaits!

For many reasons, tonight’s offering is nothing short of spectacular. This is theater at its rawest and most natural without the star attitude. The performers are not paid actors, nor are they trained or would they be considered seasoned professionals. Karalbo is a collaboration between several well know Brisbane artists and youths from various cultural backgrounds trying to find their place in an ever-changing society. The motivation behind this project was to present, if only to a few, a stage and an audience to express valuable stories and somehow come to grips with the duality that invariably comes when you are born and raised within a cultural construct and grow up within another predominant cultural construct that will, try as it may, always see you as an outsider.Continue reading Live Review | One 4 All – Karalbo @ Brisbane Powerhouse 16 October 2009→

Review + Photo by Elize StrydomClare Bowditch is smack bang in the middle of recording her fourth studio album in Berlin. The album isn’t set to drop until next year but Ms Bowditch and her band of merry men have hit the road for a national tour to celebrate the release of the single ‘The Start of War’.

The first stop was Bangalow in northern New South Wales. The set included old favourites such as Lips Like Orange, Divorcee by 23 and Autumn Bone plus new tunes including the single and other fresh offerings ‘Running’ and ‘Bigger Than the Money’.

New to the mix were young singers Sally Mortensen, Annabelle Tunley and Rachael Head of Victorian acapella group, Aluka. The trio provided backing vocals as well of plenty of laughs in response to their zany array of outfits.